Number of penalties missed by Cristiano Ronaldo in his illustrious career

Cristiano Ronaldo missed an opportunity to score a goal in the match against Slovenia. In the Round of 16 match in the Euro 2024, his failure meant the match went to the penalty shootouts. There has been a lot of criticism for him missing the goal. It was one of the rare instances of Ronaldo failing to convert a penalty into goal. It is time to look at some such instances.

In his professional career, the Portugal star was able to score a total of 864 goals. Out of them, 164 have come in the form of penalties. He is regarded as one of the best penalty specialists in the history of the sport. Even the best have their off days. There have been 30 instances of him failing to convert a penalty to a goal. For someone of his longevity, that's less. 

These misses have come for different teams in different tournaments. He has missed them at the club and the national level. It was a bittersweet night for the star player. Soon after he missed an opportunity to score a goal through the penalty, Cristiano Ronaldo was in tears. The star player felt as if it was the end of the world.

Diogo Costa's masterclass propels Portugal to a win

However, the 39-year-old got an opportunity to redeem himself. Even after the extra time, no goal was scored from either side. Hence, the match went to the penalty shootouts. Under immense pressure, the former Euro winner took the shot and claimed a goal. It was a sweet moment for him, as Ronaldo did what he couldn't in the extra time.

It was a squirrel service from the former champion for his team. Along with him, two others scored goals and helped Portugal beat Slovenian 3-0 in the shootouts to progress further. However, the credit to win must go to the goalkeeper of Portugal, Diogo Costa. The star keeper saved all the shots at him. He gave no chance for the Slovenians to score a goal. As a result‌, he got a clean sheet, avoided a goal in the shootouts and helped Portugal to stay alive in the tournament.